Today is a great day for Microsoft.
After enduring three years of criticism under the Vista era, the
company is finally prepared to turn over a new leaf and bask in the
critical praise of its new operating system, Windows 7. Faster,
with a richer graphical interface, and with a smaller footprint,
Windows 7 is an evolution that improves on Vista in nearly every
way.

To kick off the launch, many events and sales are going
on across the country today. Last night CompUSA (now owned by
Systemax Inc) held launch events at 10 of its stores. The first
77 customers at the door received $77 gift cards. One of the 77
will receive a Windows 7 dual-core PC. For those who missed
the midnight madness, CompUSA will continue to randomly give away
copies of Windows 7 throughout the day.

Office Depot is also
offering lots of free software, including AVG's Internet Security
Suite (regularly $70) to Greeting Card Factory Deluxe (regularly
$50). In total 19 titles are offered on a pay up-front,
mail-in-rebate basis. Get a full list of titles here.

Staples
also has some hot offers. Grab this coupon and a Staples
associate will install Windows 7 for you, for free. You'll also
earn $75 off your computer purchase and snag a $500 coupon book.
Get the coupon here.

Microsoft
is also a series of events dubbed "the NEW efficiency"
across the country. Some of these events already took place,
but some, like and Orange County event on October 26, may still be
open. Check here
for more details.

Students can also get an upgrade copy of
Windows 7 Home Edition or Professional edition for a
mere $30, until January 2010.

Also, those looking to upgrade more than one PC in a single home can look towards the Family Pack which will upgrade three machines to Windows 7 Home Premium.

For those looking to take
advantage of Windows 7's new multitouch functionality, you might want
to check out the TouchSmart
600xt multitouch PC, one of the first Windows 7 multitouch
machines. Powered by Intel processors and sporting a 23-inch
screen at a $1,049 price tag the device looks like a good
value. It offers support for gesture and multitouch based
moves, scrolls, and zooms.

Even if you don't get any special
launch deals, Windows 7 should be a deal in itself. Cheaper
than Vista, the OS uses less memory, so it can fit on many netbooks.
The OS also brings DirectX
11 graphics, which AMD/ATI already includes hardware
support.

Another of the most promising features of Windows
7 for fans of 2D-retro games or programming professionals is XP
Mode. Available with the Professional and Ultimate editions,
this mode offers virtualized versions of Window XP that your programs
can operate seamlessly within alongside normal Windows 7
programs.

Windows 7 looks like a fresh start for
Microsoft, but the competition will be tough. Microsoft will
face stronger pressure from the smartphone and netbook markets,
albeit not necessarily direct competition. And they also must
compete with a invigorated Apple, which just debuted Snow
Leopard and new
Macs.

The true test will not be the glowing reviews, the
colorful launch events, or the innovative features. Windows
Vista in many respects had all of those. No, the true test will
be the public reception. The public will make or break the new
OS. And the public will be able to make up their mind, starting
today.

"Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine." -- Bill Gates